Sylvania 300

The Sylvania 300 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

The Sylvania 300 has traditionally held in mid-September, however, the race has been rescheduled once in its history. (see below)

The Sylvania 300 also has the distinction of being the only Sprint Cup race outside of Daytona and Talladega to run a restrictor plate race since the adoption of the current 358 cubic inch formula. After Adam Petty's fatal crash in the Busch Series practice on May 12, 2000, and Kenny Irwin, Jr.'s fatal crash in the Cup Series practice on July 7, 2000, NASCAR decided to run restrictor plates, already used for the Whelen Modified Tour races at the circuit, for the 2000 Cup race, then known as the Dura Lube 300 sponsored by Kmart. Adding restrictor plates did have the desired result of slowing down the cars drastically, but at the same time, restricted passing so much that Jeff Burton led all 300 laps. This lack of passing was so uncompetitive, that for Cup cars only, the restrictor plates were gone for the very next race, the 2001 New England 300.

From 2004 until 2010, the race served as the opening round of the "Chase for the Sprint Cup", a ten-race "playoff" designed among the top ten (twelve as of 2007) drivers in the standings of the series following the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 to spur interest in a championship series while NASCAR faces competition from the start of the NFL season and college football, the pennant races and post-season of Major League Baseball and the outset of the NHL and NBA seasons. Beginning with the 2011 Chase, the Sylvania 300 will be the second race in the ten-race playoff; as part of a new round of schedule realignment the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway will move from its traditional early July race date.

It was announced on July 15, 2006 that the title sponsor Sylvania signed an extension until 2012 to be the title sponsor of the race.